Ballmer has also stated
that the sales faced constraints by the restrictions of the sales channel. The
Surface tablet is available only on Microsoft Store online. In the US, the
tablet will be available in a number of brick and mortar stores.

However, the demand for
the tablet through sales channel of Microsoft was high enough to indicate a scarcity
of the $499 model online for over a week, while it was enlisted as ‘out of
stock’.

Ballmer has not
revealed any sales figures to the French newspaper.

Ballmer, however, has
mentioned that the Intel-based top-notch tablet is on its way.

The more expensive
version is 0.53 inch thick and weighs some 2 pounds. It comes with some appealing
high-performance silicon, 4 GB of storage space, a third generation Intel Ivy
Bridge Core i5 Processor and much more. It also has support for high resolution
displays like 1920 x 1080.

The Intel-based
Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro is has not yet been priced. It is being
expected sometime next year. However, Microsoft has mentioned in the past that
it would be charged in line with ultrabooks that carry similar configurations.

Ballmer commented on
the outlook for the economy of the US. He exhorted politicians to act on the
deficit, even though he fell short of saying if spending cutbacks must be a
subject of emphasis.

He said that it is not
about spending more or less, it is more about balancing income and spending. He
feels that since the elections are over, it is time to get back to action.